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The process of buying a mutual fund can be done over the phone, online, or in person if you are dealing with a financial representative. To place an order, you would indicate how much money you want to invest and what mutual fund you want to purchase. Whichever mutual fund you select, the price you pay for the shares will be determined by the closing share price at the end of that day.

The mutual fund then passes along the profits (and losses) of those investments to its shareholders. So if a mutual fund does well, you benefit. But, they’re not risk-free. Read on to learn more about how mutual funds work.

How Do I Select a Mutual Fund? This is where you’ll want to laser focus your attention and become an amateur sleuth while doing your research. The number of mutual funds available to investors right now rivals the number of stocks on the North American exchanges. Each one of these funds is unique but can be categorized based on the type of underlying securities held within it. At the broadest level, a fund falls into one of three categories: equity (which is stocks), fixed income (which are bonds), and money markets (similar to cash).

Mutual funds are organized into categories by asset class (stocks, bonds, and cash) and then further categorized by style, objective or strategy. Knowing how mutual funds are categorized aids in choosing the best funds for asset allocation and diversification purposes. For example, there are stock mutual funds, bond mutual funds, and money market mutual funds. Stock and bond funds, as primary fund types, have dozens of sub-categories further describing the investment style of the fund.

This is work that most of us are not interested in, do not have the time for, and, most importantly, are probably not as qualified to do. By purchasing shares of a mutual fund, you’re also purchasing the money management and investment skills of the fund manager whose job it is to invest and reinvest the mutual fund’s capital based on the fund’s established goals.